805-275-2235
Did you get a call from 805-275-2235? Read the posts below to find out details about this number. Also report unwanted calls to help identify who is using this phone number.
screwed by these people20 Nov 2007This is a scam artist who will charge your bank account for no services rendered. This is a fake website and fake service. If you call them you will get the same message all the time of all their operators are busy and to leave a message. They will never return your calls either. I turned them into the local Sheriffs office and they have many reports of this same fake company charging people too.- OMG I finally found something on these people. I have googled till I am blue in the face! I received charges from Sensate Technology directly after ordering from a little mom and pop candy site based in Washington State. I ordered from the candy company and than all of a suddenly got a charge on my visa for $10.65 from Sensate Technology (the candy company was the only new company I had ordered from but I didn't suspect anything at first). Than while waiting for my new card to arrive (after closing it due to this charge and seeing that this was a scam site) I took out my BOFA that I hadn't used in ages and placed an order from this same candy company while awaiting my new card (I swear I never made the connection the first time or I wouldn't have been such an idiot) and lo and behold a $10.65 charge appeared on my BOFA which hadn't been used in years! After doing much research I believe they are siphoning off the credit card numbers from what's supposedly a secure server for this candy company (NOT)! I looked and saw that the site uses a server or processing company called "FreeMerchant.Com. I found that DigitalRiver bought most of FreeMerchant.Com's customers. I did speak with someone there who said that FreeMerchant.Com was getting calls from other people indicating that after making a purchase through one of it's many companies it hosts, that they were getting strange small charges from Sensate and other false named companies!
I would be curious to know if anyone else made this connection. Did you purchase anything through a candy company in Washington state or by a company being served by FreeMerchant.Com (You would know if you look at the confirming e-mail they sent you when you placed an order)? I raised such a stink with them that ironically they reversed the charge they made on one card and was stunned to learn from my credit card company that once they gave the money back they couldn't go any further? So in other words if you steal but put it back because you got caught it's OK? I would be interested in hearing more. I have filed fraud charges with my BOFA on them too.
They have an unlisted company telephone number (red flag) that comes up as a residential land line in Ventura CA. They do have a fake website and it was just opened on September 12th. I am furious over this. This company has cost me having to cancel two credit cards and all after ordering from the same mom and pop candy company online. What Sheriffs office did you talk to? Is there a contact name because I would like to call as well. The banks are dragging their heels and this is why this crap goes on.- I WAS ALSO CHARGED $10.65 FROM A COMPANY CALLED SENSATE TECHNOLOGY. LUCKLY I DO A LOT OF ONLINE BANKING OR ELSE I WOULDN'T HAVE SEEN THIS CHARGE. "NATALIE" I JUST WANT TO SAY THANK YOU FOR DOING SO MUCH INTENSE RESEARCH TO FIND OUT THAT THIS STEMED FROM FREEMERCHANT.COM BECUASE I RECOGNIZED THAT NAME IMEEDIATELY BECAUSE I ORDERED FROM A COMPANY CALLED " THE MARINE SHOP" AND THEY USE THIS VERY SAME MERCHANT. I HAD TO CANCEL MY CARD AND I AM CURRENTLY WAITING ON A NEW ONE. I ALSO EMAILED THE MARINE SHOP TO LET THEM KNOW WHATS GOING ON. NOW I AM GOING TO BE MORE CAUTIOUS WHEN ORDERING OVER SO CALLED SECURE SERVERS.
TAMPA. FL- You are welcome! In fact I was so happy to see your message because I have searched and there is nothing on these people which is spooky. I guess because they have just begun doing this that it hasn't made many message boards or anything yet. Their web site was apparently just launched in early September (SensateTech.Com) which means that many people are just now getting their statements and most of them may not even notice this fly under the radar charge of $10.65. When i called the candy company that is hosted by FreeMerchant.Com they got a little defensive with me as if I were accusing them and that was not the case at all! I am sure they have no idea that credit card numbers are being siphoned off as people innocently enter in their card numbers to purchase candy or any other myriad of sites hosted by FreeMerchant. What bothers me is that FreeMerchant should be closing these down or doing something until they figure out how to get these hackers out of their files! I had a woman admit to me that they were getting other calls from customers saying that they were also getting small charges like this after making purchases through various sites hosted by FreeMerchant and than the girl never got back to me again (I am guessing someone in legal told her not to talk to me anymore because they didn't want to let a customer know that they had a breach).
I did call the Ventura California sheriff's department and spoke to a detective there today who was wonderful. She gets whats going on and I have feeling something may finally be done (I pray). I even linked them to this site so they can see that others are experiencing funny stuff here all linking back to FreeMerchant in some way.
I would be very interested to know of anyone else's experience out there and if they used a site that uses FreeMerchant when this happened. The sad thing is that most people won't find us here because I googled forever and found nothing. On a whim I decided to enter Sensate Technology's suspiciously UNLISTED telephone number (listed next to my transaction on my online statement) and that was the only reason I even found this and this is all there is about them online. :(
Call the Ventura county Sheriff's department (I am not sure if its OK to put her name out here so I won't but she was a very helpful and sharp female detective). Not the Ventura POLICE but the Sheriff's office there. I think the more of us that call in and let them know the stronger the case, The banks don't do much of anything. :(- Yes, I actually received TWO charges for not just 10.65 but 9.85. Luckily, too,like the other 'victim' I caught it quickly. Calling the numbers on the account does not result in speaking to anyone either.
I am going to write to the Better Business Bureau as well and my bank took care of this or has been notified of these scams.. Something I think is very unusal and tricky to 'recover' or trace.
The illicit charges were on dec 11, approximately.
The Company names are Illicit Solutions (*voice mail for this company seems to be always on and an Indian or Mideast sounding person is on the answering machine) and the other company is called Crystal Clear Designs.
Keep these in mind when you scan your charge card purchases and report to your bank immediately!
D Maguire
- Hi Natalie. I've read many of your posts and it sent chills down my spine. I own one of these companies. I don't want to give too much information because I don't know how much trouble I'm in. Also, I want to keep anonymous because I've had a lot of communications with the so-called Atala designs. I honestly had no idea this was happening until I received a call from my bank. I now want to help catch these people, but I need help. I don't know whether to shut everything down, and risk loosing my ties with them, or keep it open to lull them into a mistake. What should I do? I should mention, everything is on hold, and no more transactions will be accepted from this company. Any little thing will help. I've been a victim of fraud and feel sick that I now am contributing to it. Please, please give me some more information.
- I owned a company through Atala that came within a few days of running transactions. I closed everything and emailed the State and got the corporations all closed down. The Merchant account and the Gateway account were kind of a hassle to close. They didn't seem to care that I told them there was credit card fraud involved. I hadn't the Atala name via google since mid november, lucky that I did before they started running transactions. Gundars was the fellow at Atala that I was working with. He claims to have been the victim of credit card fraud but I now now that they knew all along as I found it funny that I wanted to use the services myself and they wouldn't let me. The State I was working with was super nice, they refunded all of the set-up fees for the LLCs that I opened. The poor owner of Sensate is gong to get sued and spend a lot of money in legal fees. I am sorry if it is you. This was a get rich quick scheme that I am glad that I did my homework on before I allowed people to get hurt.
- I just received the same charge. I ordered something from a company called goldust treasures, so beware of them. I just called my credit card company to get the charges taken off. This is the second time this has happen to me. I guess I will only order from websites I am familiar with. Good luck
- Hello from South Dakota. Yep, I got hit twice: Sensate Technology and MCA Templates. I have looked at those $10.65 amounts half a dozen times and wondered what I ordered from those places. Of course, no answer when I called either number. I did discover my merchant, though, and have sent them an email about it just today. I hope with all my heart that they will respond as they should and discontinue using freemerchant/digital river immediately.
- Dear Natalie,
Thank you so much for all the hard work and figuring this thing out. I too like the other people looked back over purchases and found an online purchase that used free merchant. I notified the company I purchased from. My credit card company said they will most likely not reimburse me as they only would reimburse if free merchant were to send the money back - fat chance. I'm glad it was only 10.65.
Thank you again for solving the mystery. At least now I understand a little more about how fraud happens and how it happened to me.
Nancy A - I too want to thank you for finding all of this information out. I was hit twice like many other people but from other company names...Crystal Clear Designs and Do-Tech Solutions. Crystal Clear's phone number invalid but Do-Tech had a recording with a bogus website. I looked back and had ordered some mint-state quarters for my dad for x-mas through Erelmax Enterprises and their e-mail confirmation said they used Freemerchant.com. I left a message today for Erelmax and I hope they call me back so I can inform them of this problem.
Did you notice if the charges came back the following months? - I noticed a charge from Atala Designs on my bank card within the last week. I kept searching for what it might be and finally today found this site and realized what had happened. I called my bank immediately and canceled that card. Thank you for posting this site and your experiences so others can find the answers to fraud dilemmas.
- GREETINGS
IT IS LIKELY THAT YOU HAVE ARRIVED HERE BECAUSE A SMALL AMOUNT OF M0NEY ($8.65-$12.95) HAS BEEN STOLEN FROM YOUR ACCOUNT BY A COMPANY THAT YOU DO NOT RECOGNIZE. EACH OF THE MANY PEOPLE YOU WILL FIND ON THIS THREAD HAVE HAD THE SAME THING HAPPEN TO THEM BEGINNING IN LATE NOVEMBER AND CONTINUING AS OF THIS POSTING TODAY, DEC 12, 2007.
AFTER MUCH RESEARCH BY NATALIE AND OTHERS, THE COMMON DENOMINATOR FOR ALL OF US IS A CC PROCESSING COMPANY CALLED DIGITAL RIVER/FREE MERCHANT.COM. DIGITAL RIVER/FREE MERCHANT PROCESSES CREDIT CARDS FOR HUNDREDS, MAYBE THOUSANDS OF MERCHANTS THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, INCLUDING CANDY COMPANIES, PET SHOPS, NAUTICAL GIFTS, COLLECTIBLES AND MORE.
AS EACH OF US PLACED ORDERS WITH THESE MERCHANTS, THE MERCHANTS IN TURN PROCESSED OUR CREDIT CARDS THROUGH THEIR LEGITIMATE PROCESSOR, DIGITAL RIVER/FREE MERCHANT.
WE BELIEVE DIGITAL RIVER/FREE MERCHANT'S SECURITY HAS BEEN COMPROMISED AND THAT OUR CREDIT CARD INFORMATION, SUPPLIED TO DIGITAL RIVER BY THE MERCHANTS WE PURCHASED FROM, HAS BEEN AND CONTINUES TO BE, STOLEN FROM DIGITAL RIVER. WE BELIEVE THIS BECAUSE EACH OF US PURCHASED FROM A DIFFERENT MERCHANT, BUT ALL THE MERCHANTS USE THE SAME PROCESSOR; DIGITAL RIVER/FREE MERCHANT AND ALL OF US HAVE THE SAME DOLLAR AMOUNTS REMOVED FROM OUR ACCOUNTS (USUALLY $10.65 OR $8.65 AND A FEW OTHER AMOUNTS AS WELL)
THEN, USING OUR STOLEN CC DATA, THE THIEVES PROCESS A SMALL CHARGE OF BETWEEN $8.65 AND $12.95 THROUGH THEIR BOGUS WEBSITES LIKE SENSATETECH.COM, ATALADESIGNS.COM, MVWEBTEMPLATES.COM AND MANY OTHERS.
UNFORTUNATELY, DIGITAL RIVER DOES NOT SEEM TO BE IN A HURRY TO HELP ANY OF US OR EVEN ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THEY MAY HAVE A SECURITY PROBLEM. AS I SAID, THEY WERE TOLD ABOUT THE PROBLEM IN NOVEMBER AND MONEY CONTINUES TO BE STOLEN AS RECENLTY AS TODAY, DEC 11, 2007. ONE OF THEIR MERCHANTS CONFIRMED TO US THAT DIGITAL RIVER WILL BE CLOSING THEIR CC PROCESSING PORTION OF THEIR BUSINESS ON JAN 15, 2008 - COINCIDENCE? - I THINK NOT.
WE INVITE YOU TO REVIEW OUR THREAD, IT'S QUITE EYEOPENING AND VISIT THE MANY BOGUS WEBSITES THE THIEVES HAVE OPENED (ALL LISTED THROUGHOUT THE THREAD). WE INVITE YOU TO POST YOUR SITUATION AND LET US KNOW WHEN THE CHARGE OCCURED, (NOT WHEN YOU NOTICED THE PROBLEM) AND WHO THE BOGUS COMPANY WAS AND FINALLY THE AMOUNT THEY STOLE FROM YOU. WE ARE ALL BAFFLED AS TO WHY THIS CONTINUES TO OCCUR.
THANKS
MARNIE- HELLO EVERYONE, I JUST CHECKED MY STATMENT AND I GOT CHARGED 11.89 FROM ATALA DESIGNS ON 1/19/2008. I KNEW THAT I DID NOT CHARGE ANY THING SO I CALLED MY BANK AND THEY GAVE ME THE PHONE NUMBER 1-626-310-0668. I TRIED TO CALL IT AND ALL THEY HAD WAS AN ANSWERING MACHINE THAT HAD A SITE FOR SUPPORT@NATURALORDERTEMPLATE.COM. I CHECKED IT AND IT IS NOT AVAILABLE. THAT IS REALLY CONVENIENT. I HAD TO CALL AND CANCEL MY ACCOUNT AND I AM GOING TO DISPUTE THE CHARGES AT MY BANK. MY HUSBAND ORDERED FROM A COMPANY- NATIONAL SPORT SUPPLY BEECHWOOD WI- AND I DON'T KNOW IF IT CAME FROM THEM OR NOT BECAUSE WHEN WE WENT TO FIND THE SITE IT WAS GONE ALSO. SO, JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE WE GOT SCAMED. I HOPE THAT THEY GET CAUGHT.
- found my $10.65 charge today! From www.ilicmaster.com. On a credit card I've only had for 3 months and only used on 2 websites. the phone number listed on my bill comes back to a woman in Chicago, I will not call it as I don't need any more of my personal info "out there". The cc company (Capitol One Visa) took my call as a 'dispute' and told me they would contact the merchant for a response. In the meantime they credit the amount to my account. Told me they could issue a new card number but any charges coming in to the old number would be linked to the new number(gee that's a help when it comes to fraud); and if I want to flat out cancel the card? Well I have to have a zero balance for 30 days (uhmmm, if someone keeps on fraudulently charging my card how can I ever have a zero balance??!) I plan on not using the card anymore and paying all but the $10.65 right away and keeping track thru their automated phone system of any add'l charges; i will wait for their 'dispute sytem' to go thru it's paces (30-45 days) and at that point will cancel the card. From my 'Googling' I plan on filing a complaint with the state attorney general and the FBI, not expecting to have that resolve the problem but just to be one more added voice in hopes of drawing more attention to this C-R-I-M-E (in the end they have gotten paid by my cc company and yours! $10.65 X ??? do the the math!! Look at all the posts over a two month period and the states they came from).
- I too received a charge on Dec. 30, 2007 for $10.65 from www.ilicmaster.com and also on Jan. 17, 2008 is a charge from an Istanbul company for
$ 1758.00 came on my credit card bill. The domain name (www.ilicmaster.com) is an unregistered domain. The telephone number is always busy, and is registered to a lady in Chicago.
- I failed to mention in my prior post that the company's name was ATALA DESIGNS and that the amount was $10.65- it appeared on my statement as a
transaction of December 23. I live in southern california-in the Mohave
desert- I'm thinking class action suit-(my name is sue-been waiting all my
life for the perfect opportunity)- anybody on board?? - I just Finished calling my Bank WAMU about a bogus charge from Atala Design for 12.79, it happened after I used my debit card at a machine that has movie rentals for one dollar in Ralphs supermarket, after that I had problems retuning the movie the next day and then on Monday February 4th i saw the pendind charges one from Atala designs for 12.79 and another from a Home.com for 2.99, since I check my account on-line I was able to catch it early so i call my Bank and cancelled my card and by wednesday only on charge clear with was the Atala designs, so I file a report with the bank and I'm getting my money back, but to me that is not the thing, I just want to know why since this is happening so often with those companies, the authoriies don't seem to be doing anything about it, so I guess the consumer is on their on about it,so please protect yourself and always check your account on-line, because by the time you get your statement it might be too late to stop the charges!, Good luck to you all!
- Add another victim to the list. On December 10 I have two separate charges on the visa credit card for Sensate Technology. One for $9.85 and the other for $10.65. I notified my credit card company. They have removed the charges from my account. I am keeping a close watch to see if other charges appear.
J. Thompson
Alexandria, VA - I had the $10.65 charge by Sensate Technology and $9.85 by Crystal Clear Designs. Still not sure which place I ordered from, caused this. I did talk to a lady who runs the Crystal Clear Designs in Sydney, Montana...I guess I am not the only one who contacted her. She has nothing to do with any of this at all..........
I was interested to find that someone else suspected PAYPAL. I used PAYPAL for a couple of orders---one a video off of e-bay--the name listed was Lonerider00.......CA Another was a disc from Fetchadisc.....IL(a music Collectibles place)
I called VISA......they said they knew about this and took the charges off of my statement, but then told me that I am responsible for checking my own statements. I was told this when I asked why they couldn't just block the offending vendors since they knew about them..... anyway, now I am waiting on a new card too. Hope everyone finds this site and complains LOUDLY!!!
- Natalie,
I just noticed the $10.65 charge on my online statement today. Funny thing is that I have not purchased anything online recently. At least for two weeks or so, anyway. The only online Christmas shopping I did was through QVC and on e other place. Do you know if QVC uses FreeMerchant? I would doubt it. The other place was called Foreverafter Collectibles. Maybe it happened through them. I'll have to check. Do you know if this only happens when someone uses FreeMerchant? Also, just as an fyi, the phone number I got from my bank was slightly different and wasn't listed on my online statement. I had to talk to the debit card processing dept. to get it. It is (805) 275-1967. So people should be aware of this number as well.- I strongly urge everyone to file a fraud report with their local Attorney General's office. I have filed a complaint form with my bank, but that allows the criminals a way out of getting a chargeback fee. It is FRAUD. I'm having Digital River investigated through the Attorney General and I hope all of you do the same. Enough complaining will help them build a case.
- I have also been charged fraudulently by the "natural order (toward disorder) template company, and no they don't answer their phones, although the voice sounds credible enough, and I have been forced to put it in the
hands of my credit card company-hopefully this will be a breakthrough for
all innocent parties who had nothing to do with ordering naturalordertemplates- I am thoroughly disgusted with this group.....- i have a charge on my credit card for 10.29 from atala designs back in january. i found this out after recieving a call from my credit card company that someone is taking thousands of dollars in cash advances within in three days. this cash advances happened in the beginning of april. I too tried to call the number listed but keep getting a recording saying all operators are busy.
- I just happened to check my credit card statement and there was a charge for 11.89 on it from SYNERGY DESIGN SOLUTIONS. I phoned my credit card company and they are going to send me a dispute form for this amount. So i decided to go back into all my old statements and lord and behold, there was a charge from MCA TEMPLATES back in 10/2007 for 11.89. This really pisses me off because how are we ever going to keep our information safe from these damn people
Other phone numbers in the 805 area code